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Presentation
of the ICD to the TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) has the statutory duty of ensuring that allegations of police misconduct are investigated effectively and efficiently. This it does by investigating certain categories of complaints itself and by supervising the investigations by the police of complaints referred by it to them. The ICD is under obligation to investigate police-related deaths in terms of its statutory mandate derived from Chapter 10 of the SAPS Act 68 of 1995. The deaths amount to approximately 750 per annum. In addition to this primary function, the ICD seeks to reduce the levels of misconduct by researching and making recommendations aimed at addressing the underlying causes thereof. The realisation that the ICD’s investigative capacity is greatly strained, as only a total of 45 investigators carry out this enormous responsibility, is an additional incentive to ensure that other avenues of resolving the problems besetting the ICD are explored. However the ICD will still require to fill about thirty positions, most of which will be line functionary positions in order to fulfill the statutory obligation of providing services throughout the country. The presence of the ICD in only seven of the nine provinces limits the extent of its operations, in addition to placing a great burden on neighbouring provinces that assist in carrying out investigations. The already overstretched resources of these neighbouring provinces are not adequate even for their own domestic activities. Already the SAPS have adopted a new approach to dealing with the victims of sexual offences and have produced a new policy on arrest procedures, as a result of recommendations made by the ICD. While this is a commendable step forward and in recognition of the ICD’s contribution to rid the service of corruption and the criminal element, regard must be had to the impending implementation of the Domestic Violence Act, an activity in which the ICD will be heavily involved. In conformity with the President’s speech during the opening of Parliament on 25 June 1999, and in line with the mandate and statutory obligations of the ICD; this organisation will take up the challenge of the reconstruction and development of the moral fibre of our society, for a common effort to build a winning nation. Our aspirations in this regard are however frustrated by the static budgetary allocation of the three-year cycle and leaves us no room for physical development. We have embarked on the ICD White Paper process in order to set the policy framework for the ICD beyond 2000. The financial implications for policy implementation will only be known during the second quarter of 2000. Already the ICD is on the verge of workshopping with the SAPS, the results of research conducted into police brutality. The research was commissioned in part as the result of a request made by National Commissioner Fivaz. Additional resources are needed to ensure that the recommendations flowing from the research are followed through effectively and efficiently. The ICD has made contributions to the curricula for SAPS training programmes, especially in the area of human rights and disciplinary issues in order to inculcate awareness of the ICD and to further build on a human rights culture within the SAPS. It is exploring the possibility of sourcing officer survival training and training on alternative means of securing an arrest for SAPS members. We wish to give effect to the President’s commitment to improving the professional competence and effectiveness of the police service. The ICD has also contributed to improving police-community relations by informally resolving complaints through mediation and other means. Mediation is also a strategy resorted to as a cost-cutting measure. We all realise that more still needs to be done to weed out the corrupt element within the police service whose conduct has subtracted rather than added to improving the image of the Service. It is the desire and commitment of the ICD to promote
proper police conduct and to make a significant contribution to the transformation of the
SAPS. The ICD is further committed to giving credit where it is due so that members of the
Service may feel encouraged to continue to walk the extra mile to assist members of the
community. On the other hand, the community must have a police service they can work in a
spirit of harmony and confidence, and which they can be proud to call their own. CHAPTER 2 2.1 COMPLAINTS REGISTRY The categories of complaints that are dealt with by the ICD are the following:
In the first four months of the current fiscal year (ie 1999/2000), we received in total 1566 new complaints (See annexure 1). If this is compared with the corresponding figures for the previous years, it will be seen that on average the yearly increases have been in the regions of 45% (See annexure 2). The increases have been particularly pronounced in the Class IV category, which constitutes 43% of the complaints received. The majority of these complaints relate to the services provided by the South African Police Service and clearly we will have to come up with innovative ways of addressing these complaints systemically. During the period under review, we finalised approximately 962 cases (See annexure 3). In 211 of these, various recommendations were made to Directors of Public Prosecutions that the errant members be prosecuted for various offences. In about 18 cases, prosecutions were instituted and there have been 16 successful prosecutions. Of the matters referred to the SAPS for internal discipline, about 5 have been successfully concluded. 2.1.2 CAPACITY In virtually all the regional offices the Complaints Registry components are understaffed, resulting in an undesirable situation where members of the public have on occasion to wait for a considerable time before they can be attended to. We have committed ourselves to maintaining high standards in our service delivery, which standards we are increasingly finding difficult to meet because of shortage of personnel. This impacts negatively on our service delivery and public perception of the ICD. 2.1.3 MEDIATION We are also embarking on Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms, such as mediation, as a cost-cutting measure. We have developed a policy that sets the parameters within which mediation should take place. This policy has already been circulated among the relevant stakeholders for their inputs and comments and presently is awaiting the approval of the Minister for Safety and Security. What this policy seeks to do is to enable the ICD to resolve informally some of the less serious misconducts, such as, allegations of rudeness or discourtesy, failure by a member of SAPS to report on the progress of a case to a member of the public etc. Once the policy is implemented it will hopefully reduce the workload of investigators and monitors, who will then devote their attention to more deserving cases. There is, however, an urgent need to train our personnel in these methods of resolving complaints, but this will put a heavy strain on the budget. 2.1.4 OUTPUTS Some of the major outputs are to :
2.1.6 PROBLEM AREAS While we have a discretion whether to investigate class III and IV cases ourselves or to refer them to the police, and have indeed referred a substantial number of them back to the police, the latter option is not always a desirable one. Firstly, one invariably finds that members of the public become upset and disillusioned once they are informed that their complaints are to be dealt with by the police. The reason for this is simple. By the time the majority of complainants approach our office, they would have already lost confidence in the ability of the SAPS to respond positively to their complaints and grievances. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the present complaint systems in the SAPS have, in a number of respects, proved to be inadequate to satisfactorily address the kinds of complaints brought to the ICD by members of the public. It seems that we would have to direct our attention and efforts towards improving the public complaints system in the SAPS before we can confidently refer our complainants to the police. This is in itself an enormous task which would require sufficient personnel and other resources to accomplish.
This component is one of the core line functions of the Directorate and is responsible for ensuring that all complaints received by the ICD and allocated for active investigation, are indeed investigated efficiently and effectively. 2.2.1 CAPACITY There are currently 45 investigators on the ICD establishment. 2.2.2 CASE LOAD The caseload per investigator is on average approximately 30 cases. At present, the ICD has taken over approximately 300 live dockets from the Police for full investigation. 2.2.3 COST PER INVESTIGATION During the 1997 / 1998 financial year, approximately 1 200 cases were actively investigated by the ICD. An average of 75 hours was spent on each case as well as an average of 1 000 km travelled per case and thus a total cost of R7050,00 per case. The ICD’s average hours spent per case compares very favourably to other international oversight bodies. In one particular case in Canada, approximately 750 hours was spent thereon at a cost of approximately 28 000 Canadian dollars. 2.2.4 OUTPUTS
2.2.5 FACTORS HAMPERING EFFECTIVE INVESTIGATIONS The most immediate and pressing obstacle facing the ICD remains a shortage of investigators. The ICD currently has a total of 45 investigators nationally. Although this number represents an increase in investigators over the last 12 months, it is still insufficient to deal with the number of complaints that are currently being received, particularly deaths in custody or as a result of police action. It is hoped, however, that the imminent opening of new offices in the Free State and in Mpumalanga, will ease the burden on the 2 existing offices in Pietersburg and Kimberley which currently take responsibility for these 2 provinces. Once again, however, it is anticipated that these new offices will also be understaffed in the immediate short term. An additional factor to be taken into account is the decision by many of our offices to employ civilian investigators who have had no previous connection with the SAPS. This, however, means that such personnel have no previous experience in investigations and consequently much time and other resources have to be expended in training them and equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their functions in a professional manner. 2.2.6 HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS – SOME CASES Despite some of the difficulties experienced by our investigative component the ICD has nonetheless managed to achieve some excellent results in the field of investigations, as some of the cases from our Provincial Offices set out hereunder, illustrate:
2.2.7 COST-CUTTING ALTERNATIVES The ICD realizes that to have its own infrastructure with regard to forensic, ballistic and pathological specialized services, will be a very costly exercise. Thus we rely on the SAPS in the fields of Forensic and Ballistic Investigation and the Department of Health in the field of post-mortem examinations. In the Northern Province, the cost of accommodation for investigators who travelled to certain areas has been reduced due to negotiations with guesthouse owners, for example a reduction from R190.00 per night to R95.00. Costs have been saved with regard to the services of independent specialists by securing the services of the Independent Medico Legal Unit which provides the services of independent forensic pathologists and other experts at no cost. In provinces such as the Western Cape, the office has embarked on a case management system whereby complaints are attended to not on a piecemeal basis, but in clusters, specifically in outlying regions. Our policy on Preliminary Investigation, which requires that such an initial investigation be conducted in all Class I cases within a very short period of time has resulted in a saving for the ICD. In the aforesaid cases where no evidence of police involvement/ criminality / misconduct is found these cases are referred back to the SAPS for completion. The resultant saving has been that the number of hours spent on such cases has been reduced by almost half. 2.2.8 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT The Directorate: Investigations has been very active in this area during recent months. Since April 1999, the following Training Courses have been arranged for ICD Investigative staff:
A total of approximately 90 people benefited from the above-mentioned training. It should be mentioned that the vast majority of the training referred to above was only made possible due to the generous assistance of the British and American Governments who sponsored many of the initiatives. Certainly, the ICD alone has insufficient funds to bear the costs of such training. 2.2.9 POLICY FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT As a new organisation, the ICD has had to develop its own Standard Operating Policies and Procedures (SOP’s) de novo. This has been a lengthy and painstaking process, during which we have attempted to include all role players and stakeholders such as the SAPS and Department of Justice. We are pleased to report that as at the date of this presentation, the following SOP’s have been drafted, and are either in force or will be in force in the very near future:
Most of the minor offences and the misconduct cases are not actively investigated by the ICD, but referred back to the SAPS for them to investigate, whilst the ICD monitors the progress of these investigations. In executing this monitoring function, the ICD employs four (4) specific strategies, viz. post-investigation monitoring, monitoring, supervision and audit. Post-investigation monitoring occurs after an ICD investigation has been concluded and where recommendations are made to certain stakeholders. The implementation / non-implementation of these recommendations is monitored. Monitoring per se entails the referral of certain cases back to the SAPS for them to actively investigate whilst the ICD monitors the progress thereof. This is a cost-cutting measure that allows our investigators to concentrate on the investigation of police-related deaths and serious offences, but also gives the SAPS the opportunity to improve on their service delivery standards. Supervision involves the laying down of guidelines by the ICD as to how a particular investigation has to be conducted by the SAPS, after which ICD monitors same. Audit function is a relatively new strategy that has not been implemented as yet. What this strategy entails is a methodology to monitor the SAPS complaints system, where the public complains to the SAPS directly. 2.3.1 OUTPUTS Some of the major outputs are to:
2.3.2 CAPACITY In our larger offices (Kwa-Zulu Natal, Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Western Cape) there are 2 – 3 persons who are specifically tasked with the monitoring function. In the smaller offices (Northern Province, Northern Cape and North-West) there are no persons specifically tasked with monitoring. The investigators are obliged to perform the monitoring function as well. On average the caseload per monitor is in the region of 275 cases. 2.3.3 MONITORING OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 116 OF 1998 (DVA) In terms of this Act a police member is now obliged to inform a complainant of his / her rights when he / she reports an incident of domestic violence. Where a police member reneges on this duty and a complaint is received in this regard, the police member has to be prosecuted internally, unless the ICD directs otherwise. These complaints have to be reported to the ICD by the SAPS. In turn the ICD has to report to Parliament on a six-monthly basis as to the complaints received by the SAPS and itself, the particulars of the same and how each complaint was actioned. The implementation of this Act will place an additional burden on the budget in that :
The implementation date for this Act was initially 1 November 1999, but it has now been changed to 15 December 1999. The Regulations accompanying this Act are with Parliament at this stage. National Instructions have been prepared by the SAPS but will only be approved once Parliament has approved the Regulations. A task team consisting of ICD and SAPS members are finalizing the reporting mechanisms with regard to how and when complaints will be reported to ourselves. Our President in his inaugural speech declared that: "Our days will remain forever haunted when frightening numbers of the women and children of our country fall victim to rape and other crimes of violence". We support the notion that violence against women is everyone’s problem.
2.4.1 WHITE PAPER PROCESS Within the short period of its existence, the ICD has had to contend with a variety of problems, some of which continue to exist. The problems experienced by the organisation relate to its legislative and resource constraints as well as its current modus operandi. Owing largely to these problems, it was decided that a way be found to holistically address the problems. After internal discussions, it was felt that the organisation should develop a White Paper that would set out a broad policy framework and identify strategic priorities. In line with the above, the organisation developed a Discussion Document based on internal discussions. The next step was to conduct consultative workshops nationwide at which discussions would be held with various stakeholders using the Discussion Document as a basis. The aim of the workshops was to elicit inputs or comments in the form of proposals from stakeholders. The proposals would be refined in the form of a Draft Green Paper. The Draft Green Paper would be submitted to the Minister for his consideration and approval. The consultative workshops were conducted in all the provinces between 5 July and 7 August 1999. During the months of October and November 1999, we will be engaged in developing the first draft Green Paper. 2.4.2 RESEARCH Currently, in an attempt to be proactive and not reactive, the ICD is also focusing on developmental issues, for the purpose of highlighting root causes for certain police conduct.
2.4.3 TRAINING One further proactive initiative is the making of contributions to SAPS training programmes. We have reviewed training curricula for policemen, with specific focus on disciplinary issues, human rights and awareness of the role and function of the ICD vis a vis SAPS. These are some of our successful interventions:
CASES COMPLETED FROM APRIL 1999 TO
AUGUST 1999
3.1 COMMUNITY OUTREACH The ICD is cognisant of the fact that not many of its stakeholders are aware of its existence. These include members of the SAPS and the public in general. The situation may be attributed to the fact that the ICD is a relatively new organisation, but most importantly, it has a fairly small communication and marketing component which has to be augmented in terms of providing adequate human and financial resources. Sight should not be lost of the area that has to be covered and the geographical distribution of the various linguistic communities.
One serious problem that the ICD has not been able to address because of budgetary constraints, is the question of accessibility. So far we have only been accessible to urban communities and our services have for the most part, been out of the reach of the rural communities. This situation cannot be allowed to continue. We have forged partnerships with other institutions and NGOs and some of these bodies are willing to assist the ICD by, for example, serving as in-take offices for complaints. This will considerably reduce the costs that we would have to incur in an attempt to reach out to the remotest and rural parts of our country. It is a standard norm in international practice for bodies similar to the ICD to provide a toll free telephone service for the convenience of members of the public in order to enhance service delivery. We are not in a position to provide such a facility. It is clear, in the light of the above that the present budget is inadequate to match the tasks and responsibilities that lie ahead of us in the coming years.
As part of its efforts to reach the communities, the ICD has to be sensitive to the cultural, linguistic and religious concerns of its stakeholders. Also because of its nationwide appeal, the ICD should be aware of the placement of the various linguistic communities and this should be reflected in the various publications of the organisation. Every effort must be made to ensure that these publications are available in all eleven official languages and accordingly distributed to areas of linguistic relevance.
As part of its marketing strategy, the organisation has to mount campaigns that are aimed at publicising and marketing itself. In this regard, it is a known fact that the majority of the population that the ICD is supposed to serve, is ignorant about the existence and activities of the organisation. This population includes some members of the Service. A number of activities are envisaged to bring the ICD to the attention of its stakeholders and these are to take place throughout the country:
The ICD is aware of the public perception that the activities of the ICD impact negatively on police morale and concentrate on the negative aspects of police behaviour. It is for this reason that the ICD thought it fit to introduce an award scheme which will benefit these members of the Service who walk the extra mile over and above the call of duty. This scheme is therefore meant to recognise the contribution of individual police officers to the promotion of good community-police relationships and to enhance the image of the Police Service. These awards are not intended for the type of action and conduct already acknowledged and awarded within the Police Service such as bravery and successful crime detection, but will relate to activities aimed at promoting and boosting mutual confidence between the community and the police. It would be desirable if the ICD in conjunction with other stakeholders could run this scheme on an annual basis. It is further envisaged that this scheme would be run in partnership with national circulation newspapers, and their co-operation is being sought in the administration of the scheme and procuring sponsorship of prizes.
A joint funding proposal drafted by the ICD and an NGO, the Institute for Multi-Party Democracy (IMPD), was submitted to the Australian High Commission on 30 August 1999. We wish to access donor funding from their Africa Governance Fund for the purpose of conducting public awareness and information activities on a pilot project basis. These activities would be aimed at ordinary policemen at specific police stations, Community Policing Forums and rural communities etc.
We are members of the Advocacy Sub-Committee of the aforesaid Forum, which consists of senior staff from amongst others the South African Human Rights Commission, Commission for Gender Equality, Pan South African Language Board, Independent Broadcasting Authority and the commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. The focus of this sub-committee is the following :
The main problem facing the communication component is the lack of capacity not only to service the Head Office of the ICD, but also the provision of service to the rest of the organisation’s regional offices. Insufficient financial resources at the disposal of the component and the shortage of trained personnel militate for the execution of certain functions only at Head Office. Because of the latter problem, it is difficult to deploy staff to conduct press conferences at Regional Offices. For the nation to continue to be informed about the ICD and its activities, it is essential that the Communication component should be strengthened. CHAPTER 4 4.1 ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE The ICD has an approved structure of 535 posts, but due to budgetary constraints we have, over a 2-year period been able to fill only 28% of the total structure. This impacts negatively on the mandate of the ICD in that:
Present filled structure The present structure has been filled in phases as follows:
(See annexure 4 (organogram) at the end of Chapter 4) The budget for the 1998/99 financial year permitted us to increase the structure by 47 posts which represents a mere 9% increase on the total structure (535 posts) over the two financial years. In order to fully extend our presence to the two remaining Provinces (Free State and Mpumalanga) and to increase investigating capacity in the existing Regional Offices, such as Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, North-West and the Northern Province, we propose an increase of personnel by 30 officers comprising of 22 line functionaries and 8 support staff. Two of the support posts (8) will be for the establishment of an internal audit component in compliance with the new Public Finance Management Act of 1999. This envisaged increase will represent a 20% increase on the establishment and will bring the total filled posts to 182 during the 2000/2001 financial year. Financial Implications The total estimated Personnel Expenditure for the 2000/2001 financial year will therefore be R19 621 010 if the proposed 30 additional posts are filled. This total personnel expenditure will be made-up as follows:
We are therefore requesting an additional R3 341 791 to our budget to allow for 30 additional staff members on the 2000/2001 budget to bring our organisational structure to 182 filled posts.
4.2.1 TRAINING AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT The mandate of the ICD is to ensure that all complaints alleging offences and misconduct by members of the South African Police Service are investigated in an efficient and effective manner. For the ICD to be able to do that, we need efficient and competent investigators. In terms of our Business Plan, we did a skills audit of our personnel. The audit was done by The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and the analysis revealed a skills gap in the following areas:
For our investigators to undergo training in these areas, we need money for Training and Development. More than 60% of these courses are not offered by the Public Service and we would need to outsource them. The 1,5% of our salary budget that we may put aside for training has only been R240 000 during the past financial year. This money has been insufficient because it must also cater for Bursaries in respect of academic training and workshops. An increase in the personnel budget would allow us to put aside even more money for training. Up to now the ICD has been relying on donor funds for the funding of a few short courses that our investigators have attended. We need to train our investigators on the above courses as a matter of urgency. 4.2.2 STANDBY ALLOWANCES At least two (2) Investigators are on standby per week in every office. 20 Investigators are on standby at any given time per week. At the present rate of R20, 00 per day, we would need about R150 000 per annum to keep our Investigators on standby. Standby is a necessity for our operations because we need to respond to deaths in police custody or as a result of police action on a 24-hour basis. This is in line with SAPS who usually have a Duty officer and a Detective at every area on a 24-hour basis. 4.2.3 IMPACT OF THE CODE OF REMUNERATION (CORE) The Core provides that Departments can, on appointment or promotion of personnel, determine the minimum salary notch within a specific range to be awarded to an employee or potential employee on the basis of the following:
To accommodate these new flexible arrangements, cost implications will always be a guiding factor and the ICD with its unique line function will have to have funds to retain and recruit personnel with the necessary skills. Advantages: The greatest advantage of CORE is that it offers career pathing for all occupational categories by having created salary broadbands. It also offers great autonomy to Heads of Departments regarding appointment measures. The CORE gives a lot of room for mobility and the ICD will have to be in a position to attract and retain good skills by offering good salaries. More than 90% of ICD investigators are former SAPS members and we need to move away from that, but we need to structure our remuneration packages in such a way that we will be able to attract personnel of very high calibre since the CORE gives room for that. An average Investigator is at level 6 and we really cannot attract high skills. We need to place our Investigators at levels 8 and 9. 4.2.4 IMPACT OF NEW PUBLIC SERVICE REGULATIONS (PSR) The Public Service Regulations that came into effect on the 1 July 1999 require Executing Authorities, through their Heads of Department to develop departmental policies within the framework of the Regulations and other Legislation. This constitutes additional work over and above the normal daily work that the concerned officers must do and this compels them to work overtime. The sub-directorate HRM, a team of 8, will have to work overtime to the amount of 16hrs a week for 6 months. This will cost about R70 000.00. The PSR directs that before a vacant post is filled, such a post must be evaluated to determine its level. The regulations also direct that post level 9 and upwards are mandatory for evaluation and Departments will have to have funds for those posts that may unexpectedly command higher grading.
4.3.1 ACCOMMODATION We have a National Office in Pretoria and Provincial offices in all but two (2) of the nine (9) provinces, namely, Free State and Mpumalanga. In these two (2) provinces the ICD is making use of accommodation from other State Departments. Due to severe budgetary constraints, these offices only serve as intake offices. In order to obtain office space for the two new offices from April 2000, office space will have to be leased at a total cost of R345 600 per annum. Such funds need to come from the ICD budget. Should the allocation in terms of the MTEF not be adjusted, it would result in less funds being available for the ICD to comply with certain requirements set by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), for example:
It is expected that for the next two financial years, the ICD will have to expend one million rand per year for the acquisition of suitable office space approved by NIA. 4.3.2 RESOURCES
5.1 MTEF ALLOCATION The ICD’s allocation in terms of the Medium Term
Expenditure Framework indicates no room for expansion in terms of the approved structure
(see Annexures 5 and 6 at the end of Chapter 5 for MTEF allocation). In real terms the
allocated budget remains the same if compared with the 1999/2000 financial year. 5.2 EXPENDITURE FOR THE CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR The ICD is well on track with its estimated expenditure for
the 1999/2000 financial year. Although it is extremely difficult to capacitate the new
offices, operations are being carried out by the adjacent provincial offices that make the
exercise of investigations and monitoring of complaints very expensive. A total amount of
R 206 000 was transferred to the Department of Public works for accommodation for the
North-West and Northern Province provincial offices. Annexure 7 at the end of chapter 5
gives an indication of the expenditure to date and projections until the end of the
financial year. 5.3 EXPENDITURE FOR THE PREVIOUS FINANCIAL YEAR Annexure 8 at the end of chapter 5 represents the
appropriation account for the ICD for the 1998/99 financial year. The department managed
to spend 76,26 % of the allocated budget for the mentioned financial year. The main reason
why a saving of 23,74 % was realized was due to the fact that personnel could not be
appointed due to a lack of accommodation in the Eastern Cape and North-West provincial
offices. 5.4 REPRIORITIZATION OF ACTIVITIES The ICD is committed to playing an active role in assisting in the reduction of corruption within the criminal justice system. In addition to the above-mentioned, it is also one of our objectives to ensure that the public status of our policemen and policewomen is raised so that they are seen as the frontline guarantors of the fundamental human rights of liberty, life, safety and security. No elements of corruption should be present. The activities of the ICD have been reprioritized to give effect to these commitments that are also in conformity with the President’s speech during the opening of Parliament.
The information contained in this document already indicates that should the ICD be able to fulfil its statutory obligation, it would need at least an increase of 20% of its current budget allocation in terms of the MTEF. This would mean an increase of approximately R5 million. If, however, there is no such increase in the budget, new offices will not be able to be opened in the two provinces; namely Mpumalanga and Free State. In addition, the organisation will not be able to effectively fulfill its statutory obligations, especially in terms of the DVA. A reduction of 4% on the MTEF allocation could exacerbate the above scenario, which will result in a nett reduction of R 1 010 000. Personnel expenditure represents 65,34% of the total budget of the ICD. The ICD will be left with funding to the amount of R 7 737 000 to cover its equipment and operational expenditure. Already the ICD is finding it difficult to fulfil its obligations in terms of the Act, namely to investigate all deaths in police custody or as a result of police action. Reduction would mean that the department must further scale down its investigations and compromise its mandate to investigate police-related deaths. A further compromise will have to be made in the execution of our statutory obligations in terms of the Domestic Violence Act.
In conclusion, it needs to be borne in mind that it is a well documented fact that investigations against police officers are inherently more difficult than ordinary investigations. The largely superior infrastructure at the hands of the police enabling them to have logistical sway over the ICD, and the critical area of the attitude of some members towards the ICD as well as inadequate resources at the disposal of the ICD, make it more difficult for the ICD in its efforts to contribute to the whole transformation process. The effectiveness of the ICD in serving its legal mandate is being undermined in three crucial areas:
A compounding factor is that the mandate of the ICD has been expanded without there having been a corresponding increase in the allocation of funds. In terms of statute, the ICD must now also investigate complaints relating to municipal police services and complaints against SAPS relating to the Domestic Violence Act. The ICD has no illusions about its statutory obligations and the responsibility it has towards the community. All it requires is the understanding of those who have the authority to do so, to extend some kind of comprehension of the enormity of the task in its path, and provide the necessary financial assistance to facilitate the transformation of the SAPS, so that the people may once again have confidence in a Service they feel they can call their own. Sadly, the incidence of police involvement in crime still persists. There are serious allegations of police involvement in shocking criminal activity. These allegations impact negatively on the credibility that the SAPS needs with the people it has to serve. It should therefore be an urgent goal of the police to address these incidences and perceptions. But this task cannot be left entirely in the hands of the police to investigate themselves. An intervention by a civilian oversight institution, in this case the ICD, is necessary. It is the mission of the ICD to assist both the police and the community to achieve this goal and forge a partnership that will effectively combat crime in the streets for a better life in our young democracy. The establishment and functioning of the ICD must be seen in a broader context of the transformation of the Police Service in South Africa. The effective and efficient investigation and recommendations, regarding alleged corruption, misconduct and death of civilians at the hands of the police, will enable the ICD to contribute:-
In general terms, therefore, the mandate to investigate alleged police involvement in misconduct and/or criminal activity is not an end in itself, but a means to transformation of the police service to an institution which deserves and receives respect and support of civil society. To embark on this important mission, the ICD requires adequate resources. The criminal element within the Police Service is operating, in some respects, in a sophisticated manner. This requires better techniques of detection on the part of the ICD staff. Properly trained staff; ideally located for speedy interventions and adequately resourced for effectiveness and efficiency, are necessary for the ICD to succeed. |
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